This week’s photo challenge for the Daily Post asks photographers to show the concept of between whether through objects, people, the actual feeling of feeling torn between decisions etc. Here are a few examples I decided on for the subject of “between” hope you enjoy!

A landscape capture using depth of field to show a tree in the distance between the space in the branches of another tree. The viewer gains more of the surroundings as a result of peering through the space created between the branches.

The love shared between mother and daughter. This bond is eternal and nothing can ever come between them to break this special connection!

I discovered this spider web formed between two tree branches.

Hidden deep between the blades of grass I uncovered this sparkling water droplet resting on a blade of grass. It reflected the light beautifully casting a rainbow colored light on the blade upon which it was sitting. It looked like a jewel resting regally between the vibrant green blades of grass!

This was an interesting addition to the Eiffel Tower when I was in France last month. Hanging between the usually open space was an inflatable tennis ball to advertise the tennis tournament the following week. The inflatable ball was illuminated at night so it could easily be seen from afar.

So there you have it some very different depictions of the challenge of between. What ways can you think you to depict the theme of between?

“I already know what you’re thinking. Who would want a used up, scratched compact with a miniature powdering puff so small. It would take days to apply my cover up! And what do the letters VF on the cover even mean?”

“Well my friends let me recount a little of my history to you and the secrets lying within me, then maybe you’ll come to see that I am in no way ordinary, but in fact extraordinary! That my scratches are part of my charm, and why my cover bears the letters VF upon it.”

“I belonged to a woman named Vera Falvo, those are her initials engraved on my cover. She wasn’t one for fancy, frivolous items which wasted money. For some reason, she was drawn to me upon seeing me in the shop. Back then, my paint was lustrous and the sunlight bounced off my gleaming mirror sending rainbows of color cascading off the surrounding walls. I was quite a stunning sight to behold. The intricate design created on my cover, coupled with the fresh miniature powder puff to apply the powder once contained within were an immediate draw. The additional pocket found on my powder puff was designed for a finger to be slipped inside to apply powder effortlessly! I was quite revolutionary in design for that pre-Depression era.”

“Vera fell in love with me instantly, but being the type of woman who didn’t approve of spending money on herself, she left me at the store, heading home to care for her young children and husband. Money was tight, I was a luxury she could certainly get by without. That night as her family sat around the dinner table, she must have mentioned seeing me in the shop, and her husband must have picked up on the longing in her voice, because the next day I found myself lifted from the display case, carried to the counter by the shop owner, to be shown to a gruff sounding male with blue eyes as bright as the sky. (I knew they matched the sky because I’d seen hints of it from my perch in the shop through the glass storefront window). Then I heard the shopkeeper say,

“Sir if you’d like I could engrave your wife’s initials on the compact’s cover.”

“Why not, she deserves to have something pretty” the blue eyed man responded.

“The next thing I felt was something sharp tearing into my lovely painted cover, but when it stopped I caught a glimpse of myself in the store’s mirror on the countertop and saw I now had the letters VF inscribed on me in beautiful cursive script. Then everything went dark as I was carefully wrapped and packaged.”

“Suddenly my darkness was brightened by the packaging being excitedly torn away and I was staring at the face of the woman who had lovingly held me in her hands, admiring me only a day prior. She gasped with delight at the sight of me, running her fingertips over the newly engraved VF, her initials. Then flung her arms happily around the blue eyed man sitting next to her, watching with pleasure as she unwrapped me.”

“Every day Vera took me out of the box I came in and after inspecting my intricacies, slowly, methodically applied her powder using the specially designed puff. She even put her favorite pink hued lipstick in the lipstick holder that was attached to me and had also been engraved with her initials. Unfortunately, one day all my powder was used up as well as the lipstick. Did Vera discard me like some useless object? No, she kept me out to decorate the surface of her vanity. One day I felt myself lifted up, and carried off to another part of the house. I thought this was it for me, she was going to shove me in a drawer somewhere since I had outlived my purpose. Suddenly, I felt my little powder puff removed as I was laid on a table. Then Vera placed something in the finger pocket of the powder puff, replaced the puff, closed me up, and returned me to my original place on the vanity. What she placed in the pocket of my powder puff let me know she would always treasure me as special to her. I breathed a sigh of relief, and set about watching the decades pass from my perch on the vanity. What was it she placed in my pocket you want to know? Look below in the final picture to see.”

While on vacation last week in France I toured Castle Chambourd in the town of Saumer. The castle itself was stunning, and one of my favorite architectural aspects of it was the twisting, winding staircase that had been built in the center of the castle leading from the ground to the terrace. It reached a total of eight floors when completely ascended! I took this photograph of the pillar at the bottom which mirrored the twisting of the staircases in the twisting design encircling the pole. I felt this photo truly epitomizes the theme of twist for this week’s challenge! 🙂

We all are familiar with these whispy dandelion seeds. I am betting that as a child you picked one of the bulbous flowers, squeezed your eyes tight, as your mind formulated a wish that contained your heart’s desire, then lightly blew the transparent seeds, sending them scattering on the wind’s currents. Sound familiar? Sure it does! There is just something enticing about these starry shaped seeds that seems to exude magic!

These dandelion seeds wished upon carried our childhood hopes and dreams entwined within their silky fibers. Their presence today, even as adults, still holds a whimsical wonderment reminding us of the joyful moments spent believing in the magic found in nature. This magic has not deserted us. It lies deep within us waiting to be rediscovered. Nature provides magnificent moments for us. It is up to you to allow the magic found in nature, permission to become part of your world again. As children we had no problem noticing the most minute details that encircled our environment. We could haphazardly wish upon dandelion seed flowers, sending our wishes off into the atmosphere, secure in the knowledge that our wishes would be heard and materialize somehow in our lives. Life was simple then. Although we may have grown into adults, magic never ages, waiting patiently for us to uncover it. Delight in special aspects of nature, enhancing the magic moments found in something as simple as making a wish upon a dandelion seed flower! Allow the Earth’s wonder to rekindle the flame of childhood memories once more!

Photography taken by the writer and may not be reused, copied, or altered in any manner without written consent from the writer. Thank you! 🙂

All words when broken apart are a bunch of individual letters that when separated don’t deliver any type of impact, but when strung together, create excerpts that can resonate with the reader long after they have read a particular piece of writing! That is the magic within letters. They can unite to create a poignant piece of poetry, or a riveting edge of your seat thriller of a story. Letters combined into words can elicit immense emotional responses from an individual coupled with the tone and the manner in which one delivers them. These tiny insignificant letters are not insignificant at all! When presented in sentences such as, “Will you marry me?” They cause a euphoric reaction within an individual. They can cause intense pain when presented in sentences such as “You are fired!” Letters are powerful when united into words. Be sure to use yours wisely!

As a previous kindergarten teacher, I had the pleasure of introducing children to the magic created when combining letters to form words. This initial introduction for children to the concept of taking individual letters to create words, and from there form sentences, paragraphs, stories, and so on, is essential. Teachers are entrusted with the task of educating tomorrow’s leaders. The elementary process of connecting letter sounds together to formulate words may be something many people have long since forgotten about because it is practically innate in us. These new learners however must be enlightened to the secrets behind creating words using 26 letters. Their journey to incorporating letters into words has just commenced!

If you ever enter a kindergarten classroom you will see the alphabet prominently displayed for these eager new minds. Additional posters on how to correctly print these letters, along with cute eye-catching pictures depicting characters whose names begin with each letter of the alphabet to help students make the letter-sound connection, are seen gracing the walls of the classroom. Last year, courtesy of Pinterest, my colleagues and I took the letter craze one step further. We built crate seats for the work centers and found fabric depicting the letters of the alphabet to cover the seats with. This is what you see pictured above. The students now had another additional reminder of letters whenever they went to work centers! Letters may seem small and unimportant when encountered individually, but together their importance and strength comprises endless possibilities! Letters are small but mighty!

Happy Earth Day Birthday to all! I wanted to showcase the beauty the Earth provides for us in this post! It seems fitting that Earth Day is in spring when the world is lush with vivid colored blooms, the grass is a vibrant shade of green, and the trees start to grow buds again. The Earth puts on a brilliant display of beauty found everywhere you turn!
As a former teacher I always felt it was important to teach even my youngest students about ways to save the Earth’s resources so they would always remain plentiful. If we educate the children of the world on recycling, reducing, and reusing resources, then they in turn can educate their children creating a cycle of wisely caring for the Earth, trees, plants, and animals for generations to come. So today as we celebrate Earth Day, consider what you do already or can start doing to keep this beautiful planet of our healthy!

If you already recycle, then that’s one step towards helping the planet. What are some other ways to keep Earth healthy you might wonder? I’ve compiled a brief list of ways to ensure that our Earth is around for a long time. Ways to Improve the Earth– Plant new trees to improve the flow of oxygen and beautify the land.– Plant vibrantly hued flowers to add color. This is prime planting time for various varieties of flowers!– Create a compost pile so certain types of biodegradable foods break down naturally! DO NOT PUT DAIRY OR MEAT PRODUCTS IN YOUR COMPOST PILE!– Plant a garden to grow your own vegtables. The churning of the soil helps to spread nutrients.– If you’re not already doing so recycle bottles, cans, newspapers, junk mail, and glass.

There are many small ways to help improve the Earth that will result in a positive impact! The animals, trees, and plants will thank you and future generations will be grateful as well! So celebrate Earth Day by giving back to the Earth that has given humanity so much of itself over the decades!

Spring is my absolute favorite season! The world is renewed and reborn awaking from its long winter nap. The colors seen bursting forth from the various different flowers carpet the Earth in a rainbow of colors! The grass takes on a lush, vibrant green hue and songbirds sing sweetly. Beautiful elements of nature are found at ever turn.

The flowers are my favorite thing about spring. The magnificence seen through their brilliant colors and varying shapes is stunning to witness! The singular beauty found in an emerging blossom is breathtaking!

Spring makes us grateful for each vividly hued petal, the feel of cool grass under our toes, and the realization that another segment in the cycle of nature has begun!

A smile is the one universal understood all throughout the world. It symbolizes the same meaning in any language, breaking down barriers and thawing out the chilliest personalities. Smiles are meant to be shared and can be quite infectious. They spread like wildfire throughout a roomful of people!

However every one of us has days when we are down in the dumps and just can’t fathom the ability to muster up even the faintest of grins. This is when we need something or someone to rely on to help us find our spectacular smiles! This object or individual should be your go to source to bring your spirit out of the slump you may have hit and help return world to happiness once more.

My source of happiness that helps to uncover my hidden smile is my cat Kasey. He is twelve years old and I rescued him from the ASPCA at two months old. He is definitely a unique personality! At twelve, he is still as lively as ever! He tears through the house chasing balls, twirling in circles attempting to capture his own tail, and head butts me in the morning insistent about getting treats. He always seems to sense when I am upset, refusing to leave my side, and instead flops down next to me or on me twisting himself upside down and gazing up at me eyes filled with unconditional love. It’s hard to stay sad or not smile at his cute face. He provides the extra dose of attention my soul needs at times to make me forget my worries and bring a mile wide grin to my face. One can’t help but smile as they listen to the contented rhythmic purring emitted from a cat. So when life seems to get me down I always snap my fingers, and Kasey appears within seconds to curl up next to me, a warm fluffy ball of pure heaven! Kasey helps me see that life really isn’t so bad and reminds me not to take myself too seriously! Life is short so enjoy it while you can is the message cats send. Smile, be happy!
🙂

The ability to allow ourselves to express feelings through creative means is what helps us to grow as individuals. Having a creative outlet is not only fun, but healthy! Through creative activities we are able to release pent up emotions that threaten to upset the balance of our universe. Whether your creative outlet is writing out your thoughts, painting an amazing piece of art to release the emotions inside through each stroke of the brush, putting on music you love and just letting your body get lost in the rhythm through dance, or going for a run to let the fresh air clear your mind rejuvenating you to once again tackle life’s tasks, we all need a release of some sort.

I personally have several ways to release stress through creativity. My number one creative outlet would be my writing. Since fourth grade I have kept a journal of my thoughts. It helps me to transfer those emotions that threaten to fester inside onto paper. Over the years this technique passed from writing in journals to writing poetry and stories. As I write I can physically feel the stress caused by these various emotions literally leave my body and be transferred to the page, leaving me in a state of bliss. The best part of writing put your feelings is that what you put down on paper doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, its just thoughts that have to be extricated from inside to allow one to feel human again! But writing your feelings doesn’t have to be due to negative feelings. Sometimes you feel so happy about something that you want to tell the world, but no one is around at the time. Share these musings of merriment with your journal or in a poem of thanksgiving. Writing has always been my go to creative device, to be able to feel human again!! Writing doesn’t judge you for your thoughts and emotions you are experiencing. Writing simply soaks them up like a sponge depositing them upon the page through your pencil which acts as the device to ciphen out excessive thoughts residing in your mind. Writing is my go to outlet at all times allowing me to make it through another day.

My other form of creative release is through dancing. Something about music containing a great beat just makes me feel free, forgetting all my worries. I started dance lessons in fourth grade, actually I really went for the first time when I was two years old but didn’t enjoy being separated from my mom! I returned to dancing when I was ten and haven’t stopped dancing since! Music just releases euphoric endorphins making me feel good. The blood pumping through your body and the workout one gets through really dancing hard, gives you a great workout and makes you feel positive about life again. I recently was entered in a dance competition while on a cruise thia past Dec and placed second. Having to create on the spot routines with a partner who you’ve never danced with was tricky but the experience made me feel so alive! Music has the magical ability to transport us back to certain moments in our lives. Dancing will always be a big part of my life, and provides yet another means for me to creatively release pent up feelings!